Fendahl Trouble
by Setto Frostwind
Summary: When The Doctor finds a bridge between his universe and another being held open by psychic energy, he goes to investigate before irriversable damage can be caused.
1. The Strange Man

"AAAHHHH" The Seer fell over grasping her temples.

The Source glanced down to her "What is it?" He asked, his tone being slightly concerned

"The timeline, it has just been reformed." She answered with a whole lot of effort, "AHHH" she screamed again as she tried to view it an additional time. "No, it's still in fluctuation, I cannot view it, it's overflowing with temporal energy."

"What does that mean?" The Source grabbed her by the shoulders and yelled impatiently. "What did you see before that?"

"I saw…a" she tried to answer with all energy she could muster, "a…skull."

"What of the charmed ones?" He picked her up by her shoulders, losing his patience further.

"I'm afraid they may be the least of our worries..." Her eyes started glowing as she involuntarily peered into the timeline to complete her vision "…A…doctor?"

Phoebe was shaken awake by Cole. It was early morning and a sense of terror was gripping her.

"Are you ok? Cole asked with a high level of concern in his voice, "Did you have a premonition? You were thrashing around like crazy."

"Yeah," Phoebe answered as she remembered her dream. "It seemed like a premonition, but I can't really remember much of it. All I remember is a skull with a pentagram on its forehead…it was glowing with a golden aura."

"Doesn't sound familiar." Cole answered somewhat relieved, "You should probably ask Leo to look into it."

"Yeah." Phoebe responded still somewhat lost in thought.

"Well, time to get up anyway." Cole stretched and stood up out of bed, "After that mess at the social service office, it may be difficult to find a job."

"Yeah," Phoebe responded as Cole left the room, "you could always be an anger management councilor"

Cole descended the stairs and was met by Paige in the kitchen "Hey," she started as she approached him and started wagging her finger in his face "I was able to convince the social service office to give you one more shot, mainly because they are short staffed, but if you pull anything like that again, it's your last chance. Got it?"

Cole paused in shock for a second, caught off guard by the news. "Uuh, sure, ok"

"Good, now get ready, we're going to be late." She responded as she orbed a piece of toast to her hand and exited the kitchen.

"You probably could have told me this yesterday…sometime…or something…" Cole pause again, still taken back by the surprise, shook his head, and then headed upstairs to get ready.

"I can't believe this!" Piper exclaimed at Leo as they entered the kitchen. "We had plans today, and we talked about you standing up to them, it's your day off."

"I know," Leo rebutted, "but you know I have other charges, they need me too, and the elders were very clear that this was a huge emergency."

Piper glared at Leo as he orbed away. "This isn't over!" she yelled at the sky.

"Called off to work again?" Paige inquired as she finished her slice of toast.

"Yeah," Piper responded in a rather annoyed tone, "speaking of which, aren't you going to be late."

"Crap," Paige exclaimed rather exasperated "Cole! Get your butt down here."

"Already here" Cole stated as Paige turned around and almost ran into him.

There was a knock on the door as they both headed in its direction. Paige opened the door to see a tall, skinny man wearing thick rimmed glasses and a blue pin stripped suit with spikey hair standing on the porch.

"Hello there, I'm with federal gas line inspectors," he proclaimed with an English accent while holding up a leather wallet with his credentials contained in a plastic pouch, "I'm inspecting the connections in all the houses in this area for…safety reasons."

"Piper! Someone's here to inspect the gas line!" Paige yelled into the house as her and Cole exited the house. The man quirkily leaned backward, placed his hands behind his back and widened his eyes as she yelled. "Have at it." She directed to the man. He nodded as he entered the house.

"What's wrong with the gas lines?" Piper asked as she entered the entrance hall.

"Uuummm, nothing as of yet, but we intend to keep it that way." He answered as he looked around the house curiously. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver device with a blue knob on the tip. He pointed the device in various directions while pushing a button that illuminated the tip and caused the device to emit a quiet buzzing sound.

Piper looked at it with a raised eyebrow.

The man looked over at Piper while still pointing his device. "Basic gas detection apparatus." He explained briefly before continuing.

"Riiight," Piper replied with an obvious look of disbelief on her face, "can I see your badge or whatever?" she asked while shaking her head.

The man stopped and looked at Piper for a few seconds while scrunching his nose. "Of course." He obliged as he pulled his leather wallet out of his pocket and flashed his credentials.

"Can I take a closer look at that?" Piper asked while motioning him to hand it to her.

"Yeah." He answered a little nervously as he moved it closer to her face.

She grabbed it and tried to pull it from his grasp while he held tight. "Can I?" She growled under her breath.

"Well, I mean, I really shouldn't let a civilian hold it…" The man tried to explain as he lost his grip on the wallet.

"Ummm…" Piper flipped the wallet around and looked extremely puzzled, "I'm not sure how I didn't notice this sooner, but this is a blank sheet of paper!"

"Yeah…" the man sighed with his tongue in his cheek. "Can I just have that back?"

"Not until you tell me who sent you!" Piper yelled falling into a defensive posture. "Phoebe!"

The man raised an eyebrow at her. "Nobody sent me." He started to explain as he carefully reached out and retrieved his wallet. "I am The Doctor, and this is psychic paper." He continued waving it in the air then placing it in his coat pocket.

"What's wrong!" Phoebe yelled as she ran down the stairs.

"Hi, The Doctor." He reiterated looking over to Phoebe and pointing to himself while grinning. "I've actually detected a relative continuum displacement zone somewhere around your house." He answered, "Hoping to fix it for you before I continue with my search." He continued distractedly as he looked at the two sisters intently. "With any luck, it's a byproduct of what I'm looking for."

"So…that pen is a…whatever zone detector then?" Piper inquired pointing to his device.

"Wha.." he started before realizing what she was pointing at. "Oh, no this is my sonic screwdriver, although it can easily detect a relative continuum displacement zone, time is kind of my specialty." He answered with a big grin on his face.

Phoebe scuttled over to her sister. "What is he talking about?" she whispered, rather irritated, into Piper's ear.

"I don't know." Piper whispered back in an equally irritated tone.

"Just freeze him for now." Phoebe suggested.

"really though," The Doctor began, "A relative continuum displacement zone is quite danger…" He was cut off mid sentence, frozen in place by Piper's magic.

"Check his pockets." Piper recommended. "He has a leather wallet in his coat pocket, he called it psychic paper, maybe you can get a premonition from it."

Phoebe reached into the doctor's coat pocket and grabbed his leather wallet. She immediately fell backward as visions of the TARDIS, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, and a very lonely existence filled her mind. After sitting in a stupor for a long while experiencing her visions, Phoebe collapsed into a comatose state.

"Oh my god!" Piper shrieked as she ran to her sister's side. "Phoebe, are you ok, wake up!" she exclaimed as she shook her vigorously. "Leo!"

There was a brief flash of blue light as Leo orbed into the living room. "Whoa, what happened?" Leo inquired as he knelt down next to Piper.

"Well, this guy showed up," Piper began gesturing to the frozen Doctor, "carrying a blank paper, waiving that thing around," Pointing to his sonic screwdriver, "claiming to be some sort of doctor, so I froze him so that Phoebe could try to get a premonition from his psychic paper and she passed out."

"Wait, what's psychic paper?" Leo puzzled.

"It's his blank paper!" Piper yelled impatiently.

"Of course it is" he replied with a look of banality on his face. He stood up and studied The Doctor for a moment. "He doesn't look like much, how long have you had him frozen?"

"For a bit." Piper answered quite irritated.

"Well then he either isn't very strong, or he isn't a threat." Leo reasoned. "Maybe you should unfreeze him and ask him about his paper." Leo bent over, picked up Phoebe and moved her to the couch.

"Fine." Piper agreed and undid her magic.

"erous and I really should…" The Doctor stopped and looked around in bewilderment.

"What's the deal with this paper?" Piper asked The Doctor very point blank.

"I'm sorry," The Doctor started, "but I'm not sure what just…"

"I'm the one asking the questions here, bub." Piper interrupted.

"But, you were just…" The Doctor continued, "and he…" he continued to look more puzzled as he gestured toward Leo.

"Hey!" Piper forcefully interjected, snapping her fingers in front of The Doctor's face, "Focus, what did your psychic paper do to my sister?"

"Well, I don't know!" The Doctor shouted rather annoyed at this point. "your clock has moved forward about 7 minutes since I last looked, I have a feeling I may have missed just a bit!"

"Oh no!" Piper yelled back, "you're not going to yell at me in my own house while my sister is…"

"Whoa, Piper…" Leo interjected and grabbed Piper by the shoulders, "Piper, calm down" Piper glared wickedly at Leo. "Ok, honey, just let me talk." Leo continued as Piper turned away from him.

"Fine." She grunted under her breath making it crystal clear that she was extremely irritated.

"Hi" the doctor extended his hand to Leo, "I'm The Doctor."

"Umm, hi, I'm Leo" Leo extended his hand and shook The Doctor's. "Sorry about that, they kinda get carried away sometimes."

The Doctor nodded his head in agreeance with wide eyes.

"Umm, anyway," Leo continued sheepishly as Piper Glared at him intensely, "As you've probably guessed, these women are witches, and Piper there froze you with her magic so that Phoebe could try to get a premonition from your paper, or something, and then she passed out."

"Oh…Yes! I see" exclaimed The Doctor excitedly, "So these women have heightened psionic abilities…" The doctor paused for a moment and puzzled, "No…a human possessing that level of ability is unheard of…"

"Excuse me!" Piper interrupted his train of thought, "The Paper!"

"Ah, yes!" The Doctor redirected his thoughts, "if she tried to read the spectrum of energies on my psychic paper," he continued as he pointed his sonic screwdriver at Phoebe's head and turned it on, "then her brain is probably just experiencing a neuron storm," he concluded as he placed his sonic screwdriver in his chest pocket, "she should be conscious within the hour." He knelt down and grabbed his psychic paper from the floor and replaced it in his coat pocket and stood up with a small grin.

Leo and Piper both stared at The Doctor in bewilderment.

"Anyway," The Doctor continued while leaning back and forth, "I really should repair the relative continuum displacement zone, it's somewhere upstairs."

"What's that?" Leo asked rather confused.

"Simply, it's a hole in time." The Doctor responded as he distractedly walked toward the stairs. "If disturbed, it could cause a direct continuum implosion, the tiniest of which could obliterate your entire planet."

"Wait." Piper specified as she froze The Doctor again. "I still don't trust this guy, Leo, would you go ask the elders about him and his psychic paper…oh, and his sonic screwdriver."

"Ummm," Leo interjected, a little concerned, "what he just said sounds pretty serious, and the Angels of Destiny have just lost power and vision over all destinies in all timelines." He continued as he shrugged his shoulders "Maybe this hole in time has something to do with it."

Piper glared daggers at Leo, "Just go!" She roared at him with unbridled rage.

"ok." Leo responded as he orbed away.

Piper paced for several minutes concerned about the news she had just received and the strange man in her house before hearing a knock at the door. "What now?" Piper stormed to the door and flung it open to see Darryl on the porch.

Darryl was somewhat taken back by his reception. "Is this a bad time?" he asked.

"A little bit." Piper growled angrily, "What do you want?"

"Well, I responded to reports of a body found in an alley," Darryl replied. "He looked like he had been dead for a while, but as we were investigating the scene; he was decomposing before our eyes."

"So you think magic was involved." Piper completed the thought as she stepped aside and motioned for Darryl to come inside.

"Yeah, I was hoping one of you could help me look into it." Darryl requested as he stepped in. His gaze was distracted shortly after. "What's with that guy?" He asked, pointing to the frozen Doctor on the stairs.

"I don't know yet." Piper responded, becoming agitated at the thought of The Doctor.

"Ok, so does rapid decomposition sound familiar to you?" Darryl inquired.

"No," Piper answered shaking her head, "but I can go check the book of shadows, keep an eye on him." She finished, gesturing at The Doctor as she headed up the stairs.

Darryl waited awkwardly for about fifteen minutes before Leo orbed into the living room and Piper came down the stairs.

"I've got nothing." Piper and Leo said in unison.

"Really?" Piper whined.

"But they all agree that a hole in time sounds bad," Leo recapped, "and that we should let him fix it if he can." Leo noticed Darryl once he finished talking and looked at his surroundings. "Hey Darryl."

Darryl acknowledged Leo. "So you got nothing?" he asked Piper.

"No." Piper stated as she unfroze The Doctor.

"Oh, come on!" The Doctor moaned as he noticed the new man in the house. "You have really got to stop doing that." He looked over at the clock. "I was out for a good twenty minutes that time!"

"Hey, less whining, more…time fixing." Piper interjected.

"How are you doing that anyway?" The Doctor inquired as he jumped down the stairs and turned on the sonic screwdriver in Pipers direction, Piper looked away from the tip as it illuminated and slightly blinded her. "Ah, you can psychically manipulate the molecules in a relative dimension of space," he explained as he continued pointing the sonic screwdriver at her, then flicked it off and looked at it while adjusting something. "I can counter it by setting the frequency to a destructive interference wave…"

"Hey!" Piper interrupted while bringing both hands up to either side of The Doctor's face. "Focus."

"Right," The Doctor snapped out of thought and stood up straight, turning toward the stairs. "Allons-y!" He exclaimed pointing his sonic screwdriver up and flicking it on, following its signal up the stairs.

"Wha.." Darryl asked with a bewildered look on his face.

Leo shrugged at him as Piper followed The Doctor up the stairs.

The Doctor continued to follow the signal of the sonic screwdriver until it brought him to the attic.

"You can't go in there!" Piper exclaimed as she stepped between The Doctor and the door.

"If you want me to fix the hole in time, you're going to have to let me in." The Doctor explained as he pushed up his glasses.

"It's ok." Leo assured from behind The Doctor.

After a few moments of hesitation, Piper moved from the path. "Fine." She pouted angrily.

The Doctor continued into the attic and made his way to a cardboard box labeled 'Penny'. He opened the box and scanned each item inside with his sonic screwdriver until he pulled out a pair of red go-go boots. "These boots!" he exclaimed, "They have been carelessly linked to your past."

"Boots?" Piper asked unamused.

"Yes," The Doctor responded scanning them meticulously with the sonic screwdriver, "they appear to be linked to your 1960's, a simple adjustment to the space-time continuum…" he continued as he adjusted his sonic screwdriver and moved it back and forth from the boots, "and viola."

"…that's it?" Piper asked with an angry undertone, her annoyance becoming more and more apparent. "You didn't even do anything."

"Oh, but I did," The Doctor replied as he took off is glasses, pulled out a pair of paper, red and blue 3d glasses and placed them on his face, "unfortunately, it wasn't caused by the creature I'm looking for."

"This is ridiculous!" Piper roared clearly reaching her last nerve, and turning to Leo stated, "He's playing with toys!"

"I assure you, this is no toy." The Doctor specified as he waved the sonic screwdriver then put it away. "And these," he removed the 3d glasses and placed them on Pipers face, "have a purpose."

Piper looked around the room and then fixated on The Doctor. "You're covered in…stuff." She observed.

"Yes!" The Doctor affirmed. "Void stuffs to be precise; you see I picked it up as I traveled between my universe and yours, which is why nobody else in this room has it on them."

"Another universe?" Piper asked in complete disbelief as she removed the 3d glasses.

"Yes, I found a connection between your and my universe being held open by psionic energy," The Doctor explained as he grabbed his 3d glasses and put them in his pocket, "I believe a creature from my universe has taken residence here and hope to find and extract it before it causes any irreversible damage."

"That would explain why the angels have lost their control over destiny." Leo interjected. "Something that was never meant to be here would mess all of that stuff up."

"Wait," Piper interjected, rather lost, "We've dealt with things from other universes before, and it never messed up the timelines."

"Ah, those were likely pocket universes tied directly to your own universe." The Doctor answered, "My universe is entirely parallel and has no business contacting this universe."

"Hold up," Darryl interjected, "this thing you're looking for, could it cause rapid decomposition?"

"it's entirely possible." The Doctor answered.

"Do you want to come take a look then?" Darryl queried.

The Doctor donned a big grin. "This one's getting very fun." He stated. "By the way, I'm The Doctor."

"Doctor who?" Darryl asked.

"Just The Doctor." He replied.

"Well, ok, I'm Darryl."

"Well, Darryl, shall we?" The Doctor responded gesturing toward the doorway.

The four of them exited the attic, Piper leaving last, and descended the stairs. "You should probably go with them, Leo." Piper suggested. "I'll stay here and watch over Phoebe and call Paige."

"Ok," Leo agreed, "That's probably a good idea."

The three of them exited the house.

"What is going on?" Piper asked to herself as she flopped down into a chair and grabbed the phone. "It's as bad as when we first discovered our powers."

Phoebe began to stir on the couch, emitted a barely audible groan, then bolted up to a sitting position and looked around the room frantically.

"Phoebe, you're ok!" Piper exclaimed with great excitement as she hopped over to the couch and hugged her.

"Umm, yeah," She responded with a bewildered tone, "what happened?"

"You touched The Doctor's paper, then passed out." Piper answered, a little concerned.

"Oh yeah," Phoebe remarked as if she had just remembered a long lost memory, "and I had another premonition about the glowing skull." She added turning to look at her sister.

"What glowing skull?" Piper asked firmly.

"Oh," Phoebe began, still fighting through a haze. "This morning I had a premonition, all I could remember about it was a glowing skull with a pentagram on its forehead…and then The Doctor showed up…" Phoebe lost herself in thought again.

"Sis?" Piper probed with a troubled tone. "You ok?"

"Huh?" Phoebe snapped out of her thoughts, "Yeah, I will be, sorry."

"You just need to rest." Piper recommended as she laid her sister back down.

"Ok." Phoebe agreed, then rolled over onto her side to nap.


	2. The Fendahleen

Darryl, Leo, and The Doctor entered the crime scene and approached what used to be the corpse. Now it was nothing more than a pile of dust and bits of bone that were slowly collapsing. The Doctor knelt down and picked up some of the dust, sniffed it, tasted it. Darryl and Leo both looked at him a bit disgusted.

"What are you doing?" Darryl asked in an offended tone. "This is a crime scene! Th-That's a dead body!"

"Investigating." The Doctor responded as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the body. After scanning the body, The Doctor put his sonic screwdriver away and placed his 3d gasses on. "It appears that the entire spectrum of energy was drained from this man's body…and I don't think it was caused by my query." He stated as he scrunched his nose and looked at the body through his 3d glasses.

"His entire spectrum of energy?" Leo asked for clarification.

"More simply put," The Doctor obliged as he removed his 3d glasses, "It effectively sucked out his soul."

"That doesn't sound good." Darryl observed nervously.

"No, that is very high level magic," Leo responded, rather perturbed.

"Is it just me?" The Doctor queried as he looked down at his legs in bewilderment, "Or are our legs paralyzed?"

Leo and Darryl both tried to move their legs to no avail. "This isn't good!" Leo exclaimed as he struggled to move his legs.

The Doctor replaced the 3d glasses on his face and looked around.

"What is that thing?" Darryl exclaimed. Leo and the doctor twisted around to see a large eyeless and limbless creature, with pink tentacles around its mouth and two large fins running down each side of its body.

"Darryl, Doctor, grab my hand!" Leo yelled.

The two obliged, and after a blue flash, they were teleported to the Halliwell manor's living room, Darryl and Leo breathing heavily.

The Doctor looked around, smiling. "Nifty trick." He stated as he removed his 3d glasses and placed them in his pocket.

"Oh my god!" Piper exclaimed bolting up from the chair. "What happened? Are you ok?"

Phoebe, Cole, and Paige rushed into the room.

"Yeah," Leo answered as he caught his breath. "Whatever that was, it wasn't a demon, Doctor. Are you sure it isn't what you're looking for?"

"That was a fendahleen." The Doctor informed Leo and started pacing, deep in thought, "no, no…no…"

"What is a fendahleen?" Piper asked, her interest piqued. "I've never heard of…"

"Yes!" The Doctor excitedly exclaimed in Piper's face, snapping out of his deep thought. "Of course I didn't detect any void stuffs, the fedahleen was probably created after it arrived!"

"Oh my god, would you focus!" Piper snapped at the jovial Doctor. "What arrived?"

The Doctor came back down to earth and looked over a Piper's angry glare with a hint of sorrow. "The fendahl core." He responded with a bit of unease.

"Fendahl core?" Piper reiterated in a quizzical tone.

"A fendahl, as they are called, is the ultimate predator organism." The Doctor explained pragmatically. "It is a gestalt creature that exists in two parts, the fendahl core and the fendahleen. It can create up to thirteen fendahleen, and if it does, it could be powerful enough to consume all life on the planet."

After a short silence, Darryl nervously inquired "So, it can create those things pretty fast?"

"No, well yes, if it has a genetically prepared stock I suppose." The Doctor answered "But, that would be almost impossible in this environment." The Doctor paused for a moment in thought. "No, its only option would be to create the fendahleen from pure energy…no small task." The Doctor paced around erratically as he explained. "It takes a tremendous amount of energy, ninety megajoules per one microgram to be precise…Not to mention the energy required to maintain the link between universes, I'm surprised to see one so soon, really."

"Does the fendahl core look like a skull with a pentagram on its forehead?" Phoebe asked as she approached The Doctor, Cole following her watchfully, seeming mildly protective.

The Doctor paused and looked at her inquisitively, then responded, "Yes, how did you know that?"

"I had a premonition about it earlier this morning, and also when I touched your psychic paper." She answered, then turned to her sisters. "I think it's allied with The Source, I saw them together in my premonition."

"No." The Doctor interjected, "The Fendahl don't ally themselves with anything, they consume. They've devoured their own kind to get their fill."

"That's just what I saw." Phoebe retorted becoming increasingly distressed.

The Doctor looked into Phoebe's eyes. "Well, alright." The Doctor accepted. "Who is this Source?"

"The Source of All Evil, he is a being of immense power." Cole interjected, stepping forward and looking intensely at the Doctor. "The strongest of the demons and ruler of the underworld. Not somebody to be taken lightly."

"Oh, well he sounds scary, doesn't he?" The Doctor quipped cheekily.

"I think you need to take this more seriously, Doctor." Cole retorted vehemently.

The Doctor suddenly donned a very stern expression and glared at Cole. "I am taking this very seriously." He assured Cole. "My own people sealed the fendahl's home planet in a time loop and erased their memory from history for the protection of the entire universe. I once tried to destroy a fendahl core by dropping it in a supernova and it came out stronger than before. I understand the severity of the situation, do you?"

Cole stood in silence for a long moment stunned and staring into the doctor's eyes. Phoebe wrapped her arms around Cole and broke the silence. "Ok, so the situation is pretty bad, let's try and figure out what we can do."

"Yes, salt." The Doctor responded, stepping past Cole and Phoebe and fishing through his coat pockets, "We'll need a good supply of salt…ah" He pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and smiled, then placed them in his inner pocket.

"Ok, salt's in the kitchen." Piper abetted, "What is it for?"

"If ingested by the fedahleen, it will affect its internal conductivity," The Doctor explained, "ruining the overall electrical balance and prevent control of the localized disruption of the osmotic pressures."

"I'm going to assume that's fancy talk for 'it kills it'?" Paige supposed in a wily tone as she approached The Doctor.

The Doctor paused and looked Paige over. "That would be correct." He answered. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced, I'm The Doctor." He continued, appearing delighted.

"My name is Paige." She replied, pleased to have been acknowledged. "So, I guess the question now is, how do we get to the core?"

"Leo should take me to the underworld." Cole suggested almost immediately. "A bit of spying should tell us what The Source is up to."

"Are you kidding me?" Phoebe snapped, removing her arms from around Cole and taking a step back. "That's way too dangerous! If you're seen, you'll be killed, and if not, you'll at the very least be back on the demonic radar."

"We all know this is the best way to find out what's going on." Cole countered.

"It's out of the question!" Phoebe commanded.

"We may have to travel to your underworld out of necessity eventually anyway." The Doctor interrupted. "If the fendahl core resides there, that's most likely where it's going to stay until it's complete."

"So, we might as well go see what we're up against and plan accordingly." Cole continued from The Doctor's reasoning.

Phoebe glared at Cole and let out a long sigh while shaking her head. "Fine, but be careful."

"That goes double for you, mister." Piper said to Leo, then kissed him.

"Ok, we'll be back as soon as we can." Leo reassured Phoebe and Piper as he grabbed Cole's shoulder and orbed them away.

"Umm, I need to get my car back," Darryl spoke up, the sisters seemed to forget he was there. "and there's going to be a butt load of paperwork for me to do to cover this thing up."

"Oh, right." Piper responded, "But you can't go back there with that thing lurking about."

"I should probably go subdue it before it gorges itself, actually." The Doctor pointed out. "Does anybody but Leo have that nifty teleportation trick?"

"Yeah." Paige answered.

"Ok, you go with them, me and Phoebe will brew something up here." Piper proposed as she hurried into the kitchen, then popped back out tossing The Doctor a container of salt. "Don't forget the salt."

The Doctor glanced at it, then nodded at Piper.

Paige took a breath and leaned forward on her toes briefly. "All right, let's do this." She stated, a little nervously, as she grabbed their hands and orbed them to the alley where Darryl's car was parked.

"You guys got this?" Darryl asked as he approached his car. "I really don't know how much help I'll be."

"Yeah, we're good." Paige answered, looking around the alley carefully.

"Ok." Darryl whispered as he got into his car, started the engine and drove off.

"So, what's this thing going to look like?" Paige asked as she observed the shadows meticulously.

"You'll know it when you see it." The Doctor answered as he pointed his sonic screwdriver in various directions. "Most likely," he continued, "it will sneak up on us and freeze our legs in place with its telekinetic abilities and try to devour us."

"Great." Paige sarcastically proclaimed and rolled her eyes.

The Doctor stopped moving his sonic screwdriver around and fixated on a direction, then slowly started walking in that direction, keeping his sonic screwdriver pointed forward.

"Did you find something?" Paige whispered as she scuttled up behind the doctor and looked astutely in the direction they were walking.

"Uh oh." The doctor indicated as he suddenly stopped.

Paige felt her legs anchor to the ground. "Oh crap!" She exclaimed as she struggled to move her legs. As the fendahleen approached, Paige was taken aback by its appearance and struggled harder to move.

The Doctor grabbed the container of salt from his pocket, poured some into his hand and flung it at the fendahleen. It squealed and retreated slightly, but continued its advance after The Doctor lost his grip on the container and it fell to the ground, rolled down the alley and stopped, spilling a small pile onto the ground. "Not good!" The Doctor observed as he fell over trying to reach the salt container.

"Salt!" Paige shouted as she extended her hand, orbing the small pile that spilled onto the ground into her hand and then into the fendahleen's mouth.

The fendahleen shrieked and gargled, then fell over with smoke rising out of its mouth.

Paige and The Doctor regained control of their legs, then took a moment to catch their breath and process what just happened. "Ha ha!" they both exclaimed to each other as they jumped up and down and embraced in a hug.

The Doctor grabbed both of Paige's hands and smiled at her. "That was brilliant!" He praised. As they calmed down, she smiled back. The Doctor let out a short, happy sigh as he let go of Paige's hands and bent over to retrieve the salt container. "We certainly have the fendahl's attention now." He advised. "I wonder what its next move will be." He put on his thick rimmed glasses and looked the creature over.

Paige gazed over at The Doctor slightly disappointed that he had already moved on from their small moment. "Grab some flesh from the fendahleen, I can use it to scry for others." She suggested as she knelt down and observed the creature.

"Right then." The Doctor obliged as he pulled a tentacle off the creature.

"Well," Paige began, then paused as she looked into The Doctor's eyes for any indication of the look she saw when he held her hands. There was none that she could see, so she continued, a little defeated, "I guess we should go back to the manor."

She grabbed his hand, and after a flash of blue they appeared in the Halliwell manor living room. The air was thick with the pungent aroma of potion brewing.

The Doctor scrunched his nose and reeled back. "It smells like a high-rise around supper time." He remarked.

Paige stopped in her tracks as she was walking to the kitchen. "Umm, what?" She asked for clarification.

"You know," he explicated, "When everyone is cooking, and the smells all mix together."

"Oh, just come with me." She insisted as she turned around and once again headed toward the kitchen.

They entered the kitchen to see all burners of the stove topped with pots of boiling liquid and thick vapors pouring over the sides.

The Doctor looked around the kitchen a bit surprised. "Well, when you said you were going to 'brew something up' I certainly didn't envision the literal interpretation." He asserted as he put his face close to a pot and sniffed, reeling back immediately after. "Where do you want this?" He asked holding the fendahleen tentacle out toward Paige.

"Is that from the fendahl?" Piper asked, rushed and distractedly.

"Yeah." The Doctor responded.

"Good." She affirmed as she grabbed it from his hand, cut a slice from it, and dropped it into one of the pots before immediately ducking and covering her head. The pot just continued to boil as everyone looked over at Piper as she stood up awkwardly. "That didn't work." She stated in a puzzled tone.

"And what exactly were you hoping to happen?" The Doctor asked, staring at Piper intently.

"I'm trying to create a potion to vanquish or weaken the core." She answered, stirring the pot and looking into it carefully.

The Doctor adopted an amused look. "You're not going to be able to affect the fendahl core with mundane household spices or, or cleaning solvents." He explained in a haughty tone.

"Well, excuse me for trying." Piper snapped back completely unamused. "Phoebe's Power of Three Spell will have to do then."

"Power of Three Spell?" The Doctor asked looking over his glasses.

"A spell that combines the powers of me and my sisters." Piper clarified giving a stern look to The Doctor.

"I think I've figured it out." Phoebe announced as she entered the kitchen carrying a note pad. "Fendahl in name go back whence you came. This magical place is not for your race. To send you back to your original seat, the power of three shall cause your retreat."

"No," The Doctor groaned in disbelief after hearing the rhyme. "You won't be able to generate enough psychic energy to make that pneumonic block transfer work." He explained in an almost critical tone.

"Look, I'm getting really tired of your 'no can do' attitude." Piper snapped at The Doctor very irately. "Besides, you're completely wrong about us. First off, we aren't psychic, we're witches. We use magic, spells, and potions to vanquish evil, and together, we are stronger than you know. Second, at least we are trying to address the problem, I haven't heard a single suggestion from you except 'get the salt'" She finished, trying to imitate an English accent with the last three words.

The Doctor paused and gave Piper a look of reciprocated understanding. "Look," he began, "You can call heightened psionic abilities and an instinctual understanding of quantum pneumonics magic if you would like, but unless your magic can generate the energy equivalent of, at least, a dying star, you won't be able to even open a window to another universe, much less transport one of the most powerful organisms I've ever encountered there." He finished explaining and hopped up to sit on the counter.

Paige sheepishly spoke up, "Well, if throwing it into a supernova would make it stronger, then maybe instead of throwing powers at it, we should try to drain its power."

"Ah!" The Doctor exclaimed jumping up off of the counter and wagging his finger at Paige, "You are a clever girl." He placed his hand under his chin and began pacing. "If we can find a way to deplete its energy past a certain point, I can remove the skull from the host, with the use of gloves of course, NEVER touch a fendahl core without gloves on, and then cut off its psychic radiation by placing it in a lead box."

"A lead box?" Phoebe asked in a rather flavorless tone giving The Doctor a bland look.

"Yes," The Doctor replied, his excitement having waned slightly, "with proper handling procedures, the fendahl's remains can be rendered fairly harmless."

"I'll start on a new spell I guess." Phoebe complained as she sat at the table and started tapping her pen on her notebook.

"I'll finish these potions, we'll at least need them against the demons if we have to go to the underworld." Piper stated as she went back over to the stove.

"Do you mind if I park my T.A.R.D.I.S. in your back garden?" The Doctor asked as he gazed out the window. "I need a few things from it."

"What's that, your 'space ship'?" Paige asked half in jest.

"More or less." The Doctor answered in complete seriousness.

"Oh, well sure." Paige answered a little flabbergasted by his answer. "Where is it now?"

"It's in a little alley off Agnew Road and Lafayette Street." He answered.

"Ok." She grabbed his hand and orbed them from the kitchen to the corner of Agnew and Lafayette.

The Doctor looked around for a moment "This way." He stated and started walking down the street, Paige followed. After a short walk, they turned into an alley and approached a blue police call box.

Paige looked it over in bewilderment. "This is it?" she asked, running a hand down one of the panels.

"Yeah." The Doctor replied, beaming with pride.

"It's a bit bizarre." Paige observed, backing up to take a look at the light on top.

The Doctor unlocked the door and stepped inside. He popped out his head and called to Paige, "Well, come on."

"It looks a bit cramped." She professed, cocking an eyebrow and donning a look of disapproval.

"Oh, just come take a look." The Doctor insisted as he disappeared back into the T.A.R.D.I.S.

Paige reluctantly obliged. As she stepped inside, her eyes widened in disbelief. "It's a bit bigger on the inside." She observed in awe.

"Yeah, a bit." The Doctor smiled as he kicked levers and pushed buttons. "I do need to make one stop before we go back you your garden." He hit the T.A.R.D.I.S. with his hammer and it activated, screeching and whirring

"Umm, sure." Paige responded halfheartedly, still in awe of the T.A.R.D.I.S. "Where exactly do we need to go?" She asked, looking over the control panel.

"Well, there is no way the fendahl could have made it here himself." The Doctor explained. "We're going to see how he did it firsthand." The T.A.R.D.I.S. started quieting down and eventually stopped. The Doctor walked over to the door and opened it.

"Wait, so this is a time machine?" Paige slowly walked to the side of The Doctor and peered out into space. "oh, wow." She gasped, barely able to make a sound as she spoke.

The Doctor grinned widely as he observed her first sight of deep space. "Yeah," he put his hand in his pockets and fell back onto his heels, then excitedly pointed downward. "That's your sun! right there!" He proclaimed.

She looked to see a large ball of fire, drifting very far away, but its size made it seem closer. "Amazing…" She seemed to snap out of her thoughts suddenly. "Wait, how are we breathing?"

"Oh, the T.A.R.D.I.S. is protecting us." The Doctor answered as he looked around intently. "My calculations seem to have been slightly off." He smiled a bit and started reminiscing. "One time, my calculations were so far off that I ended up in the middle of a primitive sontarian fleet. They thought I was a rutan scout and chased me over nine parsecs trying to shoot me down."

Paige looked over at The Doctor with amusement and smiled.

Suddenly there was a flask of blue and a tunnel formed in space in front of the T.A.R.D.I.S. a good distance away. "Ah, here we are." He remarked, studying the hole intently.

Out of the hole, a large metallic sphere emerged. The top half of the sphere started sliding back, and as it opened two daleks emerged with a skull held between them in stasis. "Drop it here!" one declared then continued "it can't escape this universe."

"Indeed." The second responded. "It cannot threaten us any longer." They then flung the skull in the direction of the sun, closed their sphere and retreated back through the hole.

"So that's how it got here." The Doctor understood, a look of worry clearly on his face. "Even the daleks couldn't devise a way to exterminate it."

"What's a dalek?" Paige asked, finally coming out of awe enough to find her words again.

"They are my people's greatest enemy." He answered with a sense of dread in his voice. "And I had been under the assumption that they were all wiped out." The Doctor looked off at the sun for a moment, then closed the door and hurried to the control panel. "We should head back." He stated as he activated the T.A.R.D.I.S.


	3. A Demon Appears

A long flash of blue light appeared in the Halliwell manor kitchen. After a few moments, Cole and Leo materialized, sweating and breathing heavily.

"We probably should have brought some salt." Leo stated through heavy breathing as he and Cole hobbled over to the table chairs and plopped down in them.

"I figured an athame would be enough to kill one." Cole retorted trying to catch his breath.

"I told you, I don't think they respond to magic the same way demons and warlocks do." Leo responded, gasping and swallowing.

"Oh my god, are you ok?" Phoebe exclaimed as she stood up and went to Cole's side and hugged him.

Piper hurried over to Leo's side. "What happened?" she asked in a worried tone.

"We ran into one of those fendahleen while in the underworld." Leo answered, finally catching his breath. "But we're ok."

Phoebe looked at Cole very concerned. "So they know you're alive?" She asked, dejectedly.

"No, I think it was just trying to feed." Cole answered while sitting up strait and taking one last deep breath. "Most of the demons aren't happy about the fendahl's presence." He continued, "They are paranoid about its intentions and don't trust it. Supposedly, The Source allowed it to use one of his oracles to become a fendahl core and allows it to feed on demons indiscriminately."

"That would explain why it can gather enough energy to create the fendahleen so quickly." Phoebe speculated.

"It's already consumed more high level demons than The Source was willing to part with." Cole interjected. "Its energy consumption is much slower now."

"That's good." Piper stated with forced optimism.

Cole looked over at Piper with an unemotional stare. "It gets worse," he added, "the Source also made a deal with it. If it can destroy the power of three, he will help it gain access to the heavens where it can gorge itself on the power of the gods."

"That's not good." Phoebe stated with wide eyes.

"Great, now there are aliens _and_ demons after us." Piper whined.

Suddenly there was a loud oscillating screech and a blue pulsating light coming from the back yard. All four of them jumped up and ran to the window and peered outside to see a wooden, blue box materializing in the middle of the yard.

"What is that?" Leo asked, dazed with confusion.

"I think it's The Doctor's space ship." Phoebe answered halfway overcome with bafflement.

"It's a little weird for a space ship, isn't it?" Cole asked, unconvinced.

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed, "but he asked if he could park it in our yard." She finished, shrugging her shoulders and opening the back door to get a better look. Cole wrapped an arm around her and stared at the box intently.

It grew silent and the box stood there, unmoving, as the four of them studied it intently. After a few moments, the door opened.

The Doctor and Paige exited the box laughing. "…and then I told him," The Doctor continued his story, "'what is pre-revolutionary France doing on a space ship? Get a little perspective' and then…" He stopped mid-sentence once he saw everyone staring at them. "Hello."

Paige looked up at everyone as her laughter slowly waned "Hi."

Piper glared at them contemptuously "I'm glad you guys are having such a wonderful time, but we are dealing with serious problems right now!" she yelled at them at her wits end.

The Doctor held back a chuckle and glanced over at Paige as she did the same.

"Oh my god." Piper muttered under her breath as she turned around and stormed inside.

"So, what did you guys figure out?" Paige asked Leo as he looked over the T.A.R.D.I.S. with a sense of disbelief.

Leo turned to her and explained, "The source has made a deal with the fendahl that it will kill you and your sisters for access to the heavens so that it can feast on the power of the gods." He then turned to The Doctor and asked, "So, is this really your space ship?"

"And time machine." He answered ecstatically.

"Wait, I thought you told us going to the past was careless?" Phoebe examined, remembering be told of when he fixed the hole in time caused by her granny's boots.

"Only if you're improper about it," He explained, "you know, going back in your own timeline or breaking fixed points in time…otherwise it's no different than traveling through space."

Leo looked back at the T.A.R.D.I.S. with a look of disapproval. "Well, it's just that…it's a blue wooden box." He explained as he continued to puzzle.

"Well, yeah." The Doctor answered, then unlocked and opened the door. "But take a look inside."

Leo and Phoebe peered inside and stared in awe at the interior of the T.A.R.D.I.S., Leo repeatedly looking behind it then inside it.

Cole looked over at them in disbelief. "Are any of you even remotely concerned that The Source has just recruited an invincible alien to kill us?" He asked, a little irate.

The Doctor approached Cole holding his hands behind his back. "Oh, come now, nothing is invincible…I never got your name."

"It's Cole." He replied with a cold glare.

"Well, Cole," The Doctor held out his hand, "I'm The Doctor."

"I know." Cole answered, brushing passed The Doctor and going over to Phoebe, trying not to show his amazement at the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Well," The Doctor put down his hand and spun around address to Paige, "isn't really a 'people person', is he?"

Paige let out a small chuckle. "You could say that. You weren't really that nice to him earlier though."

"Oh, well, you know, he _was_ being a bit rude." The Doctor explained as he shifted around and then smiled as endearingly as he could.

Paige shook her head and laughed. "Yeah, like you were much better."

"Hey, I always introduce myself before I'm rude." The Doctor replied in defense. "It's only polite."

Paige rolled her eyes in a playful manner.

"Ok, we really do have serious problems to deal with." Leo reminded everyone as he walked away from the T.A.R.D.I.S. and toward the kitchen door.

Suddenly there was a loud crash from inside the kitchen. Everyone immediately ran inside to see Piper sprawled out in front of the stove, which had been dented badly by the impact of her body, with boiling potion spilled all over her. Standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room was a tall, strong man with dreadlocks and a tattered jacket over his equally tattered and dirty clothes.

"Piper!" Leo and Phoebe exclaimed as they ran to her side. The man glanced over at the group as they entered the door and saw Leo and Phoebe running to Piper's side. With a wave of his hand, threw Phoebe and Leo into the wall with a loud thud. Their impact splintered the wood slightly and they fell to the floor unconscious.

"These 'Charmed Ones' are nothing." The man stated as he looked Cole, Paige, and The Doctor over. He then lifted The Doctor up using his telekinetic powers. "You're next."

The Doctor donned a cold, intensely menacing glare at the man as he thought the situation over in his head. The man momentarily stared in awe at The Doctor before shaking his head slightly and continuing with his original intent. Suddenly an athame flew past The Doctor's left ear and into the strange man's chest. The man dropped The Doctor and reeled back in pain for a moment before being engulfed in flame, reduced to a pile of ash. The Doctor landed on his feet and turned to look at where the athame originated to see Cole in a follow through position.

"That, Doctor, was a demon." Cole stated before rushing to Phoebe's side. "There are plenty more where that came from as well." He held her in his arms, making sure she would be alright.

Paige rushed to Piper's body and checked for a pulse. "She's alive, but these burns are real bad."

"Hold up." The Doctor stated before rushing into the back yard.

Paige held Piper in her arms and tears started welling up in her eyes.

A short moment later The Doctor returned with a jar of ointment. "This is advanced burn treatment. It should stop the pain and minimize any scarring." He explained as he handed Paige the jar

"If Leo was awake, he could heal her." Paige suggested as she opened the jar and applied a bit to Piper's burns.

The Doctor hurried over to Leo and checked him over with his sonic screwdriver. "He's out cold." He explained as he stood up and spun around. "The demon seemed uninterested in you lot." He postulated while looking over the kitchen and its damage.

"The Source must view you as some sort of threat to the fendahl." Cole suggested as he picked up Phoebe and moved her to the living room and placed her on a couch. "We can probably assume that you are going to be the first target, but if The Source find out that we've been weakened this much he's going to get much more aggressive."

Paige orbed Piper onto a couch in the living room and Leo into a chair then knelt down next to Piper showing obvious worry toward her wounds. The Doctor glanced over at Paige with a look of sorrow.

Cole suddenly flew through the air and smashed through the grandfather clock. Paige and The Doctor spun around in surprise to see the same demon standing in the doorway where his pile of ashes was. The demon gestured toward a chair and lifted it telekinetically. He flung it toward The Doctor and it exploded in front of The Doctor's face. The room was silent except for a faint, oscillating buzzing noise as the dust cleared, and as a majority of the dust settled the demon could see The Doctor holding his sonic screwdriver up, pointing it at where the chair exploded, glaring intensely into his eyes. Suddenly The Doctor jolted to the right and ran toward the foyer. The demon was slightly taken back for just a moment, then growled under his breath and gave chase.

Paige rushed over to Cole and made sure he was alright, then stood up and looked around feeling a little overwhelmed. After a short bout of mild panic, she noticed Cole's athame lying on the floor in the kitchen entrance. "Athame!" She orbed it to her hand and rushed off in the direction The Doctor and the demon ran.

She entered the foyer to see the demon making telekinetic gestures toward The Doctor, slowly advancing, and The Doctor pointing his sonic screwdriver and turning it on at every gesture, slowly retreating. The Doctor backed up until he bumped into the wall and could no longer retreat. The demon chuckled slightly as he approached The Doctor and picked him up by the front of his shirt.

"Athame!" Paige orbed the athame into the demon's back and he growled as he dropped The Doctor and burst into a pile of ash.

The Doctor and Paige looked at each other with a sense of mutual surprise. The Doctor knelt down and scanned the pile of ashes with his sonic screwdriver. "His life energy has been scattered," The Doctor observed as he sniffed the pile of ashes, "but his physical remains are acting like a magnet, drawing it back to the ash."

Paige widened her eyes at the news. "So, it's just going to keep coming back?" She asked rhetorically.

"It would appear so." The Doctor replied, deep in thought. "Yes! I can probably reverse engineer the attraction's frequency and apply it to a much stronger magnetic pull!" He exclaimed as he scanned the pile one last time and checked his sonic screwdriver. He jumped up and ran toward the kitchen, "I need a few things!" He proclaimed, "Keep an eye on that pile!"

Paige was slightly startled by his sudden enthusiasm, still nowhere used to The Doctor's antics, but felt a sense of comfort knowing that his brilliance had worked in the past. She picked up the athame and gripped it tightly as she orbed Cole to a chair, then turned to watch the pile of ashes intently.

A long minute and a half later, Paige could hear rustling and banging in the kitchen. The Doctor then ran into the foyer carrying a dust pan and broom and swept the ash pile up.

"I ran out of extension cord." He explained as he covered the pile the best he could and rushed back into the kitchen. He then placed the ashes in between three conical shaped metal structures that he had wired together with a large cord extending out through the garden and into the T.A.R.D.I.S. He then scanned the ashes and made final adjustments to the structures with his sonic screwdriver. "One more moment." He stated as he ran out to the T.A.R.D.I.S.

Suddenly the pile of ash started swirling and the demon began reconstituting. He finished then looked over at Paige and grinned slightly. As he pulled his arm back to gesture a telekinetic thrust toward Paige the structures started glowing and electricity momentarily arced from their tips. The demon's limbs all felt as heavy and stiff as iron as he fell to his hands and knees, then eventually he could no longer hold up his own weight and fell over onto his side.

"What…have...you…done…to…me!" The demon demanded, barely able to speak through the crushing weight.

"Uuummm…" Paige stammered half confused and half ecstatic and relieved.

"Well," The Doctor began as he entered the kitchen from the back yard, "you have such an attractive personality, and I decided I needed you all to myself." He knelt down close to the demon's face. "So you won't be going anywhere, I'm a little overbearing like that." He patted the demon lightly on the head then jumped up and grinned widely at Paige.

"Wow." Paige exclaimed in awe. "How _did_ you do that?"

"Oh, just your standard magnetic field warped by superconductor and set at a frequency that matches the psychic reconstitution waves of an immortal being." He responded, giving Paige a cheeky smile.

"Right, how silly of me." She responded while rolling her eyes. "Do I dare ask how you were blocking his magic?"

The Doctor looked over his sonic screwdriver and shrugged. "The psychic projection from the demon mimicked acoustic levitation in such a way as to be cancelled by simple destructive interference wave, sonic technology at its simplest, really." He placed the screwdriver in his pocket and clasped his hands together behind his back.

Paige nodded her head slightly not even trying to pretend that she understood. "Well, can you sonic Leo awake by any chance?" She asked.

"Sorry, that's a bit beyond a screwdriver's capabilities." He responded as he hopped up and sat on the counter.

After a few moments of silence Paige glanced over at the demon. "But we could use your…super magnet thing to drain the fendahl's energy levels." She theorized as she looked over the structures.

"No," The Doctor answered somewhat distracted in thought, "that demon has a unique energy spectrum that is specifically attracted to his physical remains, making the magnet a logical conclusion. Most organisms' energy spectrums don't behave as such and will not react accordingly."

Paige could hear movement and then a soft groan come from the living room and rushed to investigate. Phoebe had awoken and was grasping her head in pain. "Are you ok?" Paige asked as she set the athame down on the coffee table and sat on the edge of the couch next to Phoebe.

"I've been better." She groaned as she tried to sit up. "Is everyone else ok?"

"Everyone except me and The Doctor was knocked out." Paige explained. "Piper was burn pretty badly, but Leo hasn't woken up yet, you were the first."

"Did you vanquish the demon?" Phoebe asked expectantly.

"Well, yeah." Paige started answering, unsure of what to say. "Twice, but it kept coming back to life, so The Doctor trapped it in the kitchen."

Phoebe jumped up from the couch and almost lost her balance, but recovered. "It's still in the house!"

"Yeah, but it's ok." Paige affirmed as she helped Phoebe back onto the couch. "He can't even move or use any of his magic…it's all kind of being sucked out of him."

Phoebe closed her eyes and focused for a moment. "I'll be ok, you should go check the book of shadows for him and find out how to vanquish him for good." She suggested after composing herself.

Paige hugged Phoebe and headed upstairs.

Phoebe turned to look in the kitchen and saw The Doctor leaning in the doorway smiling at the two sisters' interaction. "Why do you do it?" Phoebe asked The Doctor.

"Sorry, what?" The Doctor asked as he stood up straight and approached Phoebe.

"Well," Phoebe began, "when I touched your psychic paper, I saw glimpses of your life." She continued while looking into his eyes." Going around and doing what you do, it makes you feel so lonely and isolated, why do you do it?"

"Well, that's true." The Doctor agreed as he sat down next to Phoebe. "But the universe is such a big and marvelous place, there is so much to learn and so much to see." He looked off into a nostalgic thought. "All the places I've seen are fantastic, and the people that I meet are fantastic, it's fantastic, really. And occasionally the universe just needs a doctor."

"Uugh, what happened?" Leo slumped forward as he awoke and opened his eyes.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" Phoebe exclaimed excitedly as she rushed to his side.

Leo suddenly became a little concerned. "Is Piper ok? Did you guys vanquish the demon?"

"The Doctor has the demon trapped and everyone is ok, but Piper has some pretty bad burns." Phoebe responded while helping Leo to his feet.

As soon as Leo composed himself, he hurried over to Piper's side. After quickly looking over the burns he placed his hands above her and a golden glow emitted from them as her burns faded to nothing and she regained consciousness.

As Piper awoke and looked into Leo's eyes, she was overwhelmed with happiness and reached out and hugged him tightly. "Is everyone ok?" she asked as she finished her hug. "The last thing I remember was a demon flinging me into the stove."

"Yeah." Leo responded as he stood up and checked out Phoebe for damage, healing the concussion she had obtained. "We're all a bit scraped up, but The Doctor has the demon trapped in the kitchen."

"And Paige is upstairs identifying it." Phoebe added as she and Leo looked over Cole.

As Leo healed Cole, he woke up and slumped forward into Phoebe's arms. He coughed a bit as his ribs snapped back into place.

"Ouch." Cole stated as he sat up and tilted his head to the side and popped his neck. "Was there a second demon?" He asked as he composed himself.

"No." The Doctor answered his question. "The demon reconstituted himself, but he is currently trapped on the kitchen floor."

"I found it!" Paige shouted from atop the stairs. "It's a Lazarus Demon," she continued as she descended the stairs, happy to see everyone well, "the only way to keep it from coming back is to bury it in a cemetery."

"Of course!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Its energy isn't attracted to _his_ remains, it's just attracted to remains. If placed in a cemetery, the energy will redistribute to the point that he won't be able to reconstitute."

"First he's going to answer some questions." Cole stated as he grabbed his athame off of the coffee table and headed into the kitchen.

The Doctor followed quickly after. "You can ask questions without the dagger." He demanded sternly.

"It won't do any good if I don't." Cole responded as he entered the kitchen to see the demon trapped on the floor, unable to move.

"I don't care!" The Doctor insisted as he glared at Cole with all the intensity of a being who had seen far too much suffering in his life. "He is _my_ prisoner, and you will not treat him like that!"

Cole glared back at The Doctor, knowing that the demon had no motivation to talk if he wasn't convinced that his fate was worse in their hands than in the hands of The Source, but unable to find the right words to defend his actions.

"If he knows where The Source is, it may be our best chance of finding the fendahl." Phoebe stated as she stood in the kitchen doorway with a sad and understanding look on her face.

"There are alternatives." The Doctor retorted as he knelt down and grabbed the demon's head. He pulled his forehead close to the demon's and probed his mind telepathically. After a moment The Doctor pulled his head back and set the demon's back on the floor.

The demon growled softly as he took a breath. "Demon kind…could learn a lot…from you…"

The Doctor glared down at the demon and stood silent for many seconds before replying "Indeed they could, but not the lessons you are referring to."

"The Source…has no idea…who…he is dealing with this time…" The demon mused to himself and forced a chuckle, "I…only wish I could be around…to witness this…"

The Doctor grabbed the athame from Cole and threw it into the demon's neck causing it to burst into a pile of ash yet again. "Better get him to a cemetery, post haste."

Everyone looked at The Doctor in awkward silence for a few moments before Leo spoke up. "Ok," he began clasping his hands together, "I will orb it with Piper and Cole. Piper, you keep it frozen so that it can't come back, Cole and I will dig a hole. In the meantime, Paige, Phoebe and The Doctor can finish preparations here."

Everyone nodded in agreement.


End file.
